...and, 50 years later, his 'persona non-grata' status in Canada

Cookie Gilchrist. Now there was a player. Ah yes. Just as with the great Jim Brown, you don't have to have been alive at the time of his supreme grandeur to know about Carlton Chester "Cookie" Gilchrist - his legend spans the generations.

There are many wise men to this day who played and coached for and against Cookie Gilchrist in the NFL who say it's not Jim Brown who was the greatest running back ever, it was Gilchrist who, because he played his first five seasons in the CFL with Hamilton, Saskatchewan, and Toronto before signing with the AFL's Buffalo Bills, did not get the recognition of unparalleled records - establishing majesty he deserved.

Jim Brown had nothing on Cookie Gilchrist. But coaches, managers, and owners of teams he played for in both leagues did. His mouth. His opinions. His unbridled ego. His swagger. His allegations of racism against black players. His going to the wall for black players.

His demands to be paid more for being unquestionably the most powerful, most destructive, most malevolent fullback in football from 1956 to 1960 in Canada and 1961 to 1966 in America when he wasn't also starring at linebacker and kicking: 250 pounds of concrete on a 6-foot-3 frame.

"Discipline problem." They said he was a "discipline problem." The code term often used when unwilling to accept the truth of accusations. When the masters of militaristic convention couldn't handle the unconventional of a contrarian who never drank, never smoked, never did drugs, but who flaunted the proud, egotistical child within him through such things as driving around town with the painted words on his truck Lookie, Lookie, Here Comes Cookie.

And so, with the NFC and AFC title games today, I tried to find the long-lost Cookie Gilchrist, now 74 years old, to get his assessments and predictions. For two days

I tried without success, finally unearthing an address in Pennsylvania and a home phone number. The number had been disconnected.

I found the name and number of his next door neighbour.

"He suddenly moved away last summer," said Joe Mercurio. "I don't know where he went. He kept to himself. I don't know if you know, but he has throat cancer. He was tall and thin. He once told me he weighed 178 pounds."

The two e-mail addresses I found didn't work. I circuitously found a third. As with the others, I explained why I wanted to phone him. I gave my number. Hours went by. And then - an e-mail.

"Earl. I have been suffering from throat cancer. Speaking right now is always difficult at times for clarity purposes."

I typed him back my sympathies. I asked him to write me his predictions. I asked where he is living. I asked for his phone number. I asked for his address. I asked why to this day he is the only player to reject induction into the Canadian Football Hall Of Fame. I mentioned some names of living ex-Rough Riders he played against, such as Kaye Vaughan.

This is what he wrote: "My throat cancer is in remission, my weight is the same. Tell Kaye Vaughan and the crew those days were the greatest in my life. I have great respect for every Canadian Football Player who played with and against me.

"I loved Canada and the Canadian people. However Canada does not love Cookie Gilchrist. And I never turned down the Hall Of Fame. When John Agro told me to be nice to Jake Gaudaur, when he told me I was nominated to be inducted, I told Jake I would take that under advisement, and he or they made a lie out of it. Adolf Hitler said the truth when he said the bigger the lie, the more people believe it.

"What is my crime? I never robbed, raped, stolen, lied, cheated, sold drugs, beat my wife or children. So. Why did the country treat me as a persona non grata from 1956 to 2010? But it's okay, I know how to deal with all the players now. It will all come out in the production of my life story once all the T's are crossed and the I's dotted.

"I wish for you what I wish for myself. That is good health, wealth, and a long quality life. Peace and love. Cookie Gilchrist."

He did not give his predictions. He did not say where he lives. He did not say what he is doing. I e-mailed him again. I told him he's wrong. That he's not persona non grata. That he will always be acknowledged and remembered in Canada for his greatness, what he gave to our game, his colourful personality. I told him the truth of Cookie Gilchrist goes marching on.